


A Place Between

by Endlesswaltz8



Category: Ai no Kusabi
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Feel-good, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Past Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:34:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29846421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Endlesswaltz8/pseuds/Endlesswaltz8
Summary: Sitting down on the bed staring at his reflection in the mirror ahead, he allowed himself to thinking of the past 24 hours.He recognized himself. The person looking back at him was definitely Riki the Dark. Black almond shaped eyes surrounded by dark lashes. A sharp jaw, thin face, full lips, short black hair. This was him. However, he was older. He was not the 15 years old teenager he remembered being. This man staring at him was in his early twenties.Riki was forced to acknowledge he was missing several years. Looking at the date on the newspaper he had purchased, he sighed. Six years. He had a 6 year memory gap.
Relationships: Iason Mink/Riki
Comments: 11
Kudos: 47





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Ai No kusabi.  
> No money is being made with this.

Chapter 1

What brought Riki out of oblivion was the intense pain of a headache in the front part of his skull. The sharp pulses of pain were synchronized with his heartbeat. He took small comfort in knowing he was alive. Slowly, he moved his hands to cradle his head, but his motion was stopped. His wrists felt restricted above his head. His _aching_ head. Opening his eyes turned out to be a terrible plan. He closed them again as fast as he could. Bright white light intensified the migraine. Even with his eyes closed, he could still see the remains of the light on his eyelids. 

Breathe. 

That was the plan for now. Gather his wits. 

But mostly breathe. 

He focused on inhaling through his nose, and exhaling through his mouth. Once, twice, thrice.

So, he was lying on his back, his hands were restrained above his head. He was cold and the lights nearby shone way to much for his comfort. That was the initial assessment he could come up with for now.

The pulse in his head was still going strong. Nausea was crawling in. Shit.

Breathe. Deep breaths this time, to keep the nausea at bay. 

He could feel vibrations through whatever cushion he laid on. Muffled sounds seemed to match the vibrations. Like someone talking on a loud speaker. He couldn’t make out any words.  
Moving his legs up to curl into a ball in an attempt to warm and comfort himself, he felt restraints on his ankles.

Breathe. 

Now, it wasn’t nausea he was concerned about, but the rising panic he was feeling. What the fuck was going on!?

Headache be damned, he had to know his surroundings! His life could depend on it.

Turning his head to the right, he slowly opened his eyes while taking deep breaths. That part was crucial to remain calm and not puke.

Okay, so he was wearing a black leather thong and that was it. That explained the cold. He moved his head slowly, his brain felt a little too fragile to risk any hasty moves. His hands were shackled. Each wrist was bound by large leather binding with metal chains. They reminded him of fancy bondage handcuffs. They were keeping his hands and feet chained to the walls surrounding him. 

He was lying on a white cushion. The walls, it seemed, were more like thick white glass. The shape of his prison was coffin like. And then, there were insanely bright white neon lights all around the edges to…illuminate him? Why?

He looked above, but saw nothing other than the white glossy glass. Why did it feel like he was being displayed?

The vibrations were getting more intense. The muffled sounds were faster. Then he heard some sort of siren and the lights went out.

Thank fuck.

The darkness felt so good for his head. But, it allowed his fears to come crawling forward. He had to get out of here. Where was he? What was happening? Where was his gang? Guy?

He was brought back to his current problem by the feeling his white coffin was being moved. Shit. Where were they taking him? 

Breathing as slowly as he could, he tried and failed to keep the panic from raising. His pain forgotten, now adrenaline was rushing in. He was fully awake. Whatever drug they had given him, it was no longer fogging his mind. His thoughts were racing, his fighting spirit was coiled. Ready.

His scared mind went straight for his hands. He needed them to protect himself and fight. He had to free himself! In the darkness, he could no longer see the cuffs. Focusing on what he had seen of them earlier, he tried to evaluate his options. They were tight, large and well adjusted to his wrist size. He’d never be able to pull his hands out. He’d end up with two broken hands. 

The lock was electronic and required a programmed key. That left the chains. Riki started twisting his wrists in an attempt to put as much tension on the chain links as possible. If there was a weak link, it would, hopefully, break.

He was still be transported. He could feel the turns, and what he thought might have been going down a flight of stairs. 

He kept twisting his wrists until the links of the chain were tense and rigid against one another. Then, with all his strength, he twisted even more, hoping we would break free.  
Then, his coffin was raised up, and put down abruptly.

He heard the outside locks being removed. Then nothing. 

Panicking, he twisted his torso to change his position, hoping to deliver more tension on the chains this way. He was sweating now and biting his lips. With his restrained feet he was trying to push himself up. All he needed was for ONE fucking link to break. 

Then, he felt it. The snap. His hands, though still in cuffs, were no longer tied together or attached to the coffin. 

And at that moment, the lid was opened.

He was greeted by the sight of a red-faced, fat man wearing a red coat and a golden scarf. 

He was bald, and what little hair he had left was white. 

His blood shot pale brown eyes were looking at him in a manner that made Riki’s lips curl in disgust. 

Riki was motionless. His last move while the lid was being removed was to hide the broken chains with his hands.

“Well, aren’t you lovely” the fat creep spoke “no wonder he kept you for so long.”

Riki stared at him and attempted to see the room, but the walls of his coffin were preventing him from studying his surroundings. Mostly he could see a wall and the ceiling. He stayed silent. Bidding his time.

Then, fat man pulled some clips and lowered the sides of Riki’s coffin. Riki strained his neck to see the room, spot a door, a window, a weapon, anything!

Mistaking Riki’s reconnaissance for fear (which it might have been, in part) the man said gently “Do not fear little one, I won’t harm you. I just want to get to know you is all.”

 _Urg, gross_ was the only thought Riki’s brain supplied before he went back to his escape strategy. Several plans were forming. The man seemed to think him terrified and helpless. Good. He could pretend. His hands were free. That advantage was precious. The man might have been heavier than he was, but his physical condition indicated no combat skills whatsoever. With speed and well executed methods, Riki could knock him out. He would have to work fast though. Absence of combat skills could mean the man owned weapons. Or bodyguards…

From what Riki could see now, the room had a big bed and what might be an adjacent bathroom. It looked like a weird cheap hotel room with red walls, bed covers and carpet. Everything complementary was gold. Fuck, it matched fat creep’s style.

There were no window that he could see. Only one door. His way out.

The man pulled out a key card and beeped Riki’s feet free from the wall of his coffin. Still cuffed together, his legs were no longer bound to the glassy wall. Hope bloomed in Riki’s chest.

The man thought him a moron apparently. Riki had to stop himself from brusquely turning around and start moving. Pace yourself he thought. Timing was of the essence. Let the man think you stupid and weak.

Gently, he brought his knees up a bit, and attempted to open up his legs. The moment he felt the chains restrict his movement, he stopped. He looked up at the man with wide eyes, then waited. 

_Patience Riki…_

This was killing him! Faking to be some sort of…meek boy toy for this old pervert. The shame! However, it seemed to be what the man thought of him and might very well be his best chance at escaping. He’d seen plenty of pets in Midas, how they moved, how they acted demure to appeal to their masters. 

_Just a bit longer…_ he encouraged himself. 

Thank fuck Baldy fell for it! He removed Riki’s ankle cuffs with his key card saying “Oh, I see, little one. Can’t get acquainted with each other while in such restraints.” As he removed Riki’s ankle cuffs, the mongrel did his best to stay still. No sudden moves. Even though fatty here was being entirely too touchy with Riki’s ankles and calves. Bile rose in his throat.

Deep breaths. Almost done. 

As soon as the man was done, Riki slowly rose to a sitting position, keeping his apparently secured wrists motionless. He could see all around now. No bodyguards in sight. No windows either. He could probably incapacitate the man in a fight. However, the noise was a bad idea. Riki needed his escape as silent as possible. The man’s gold scarf would have to be his target. It was wrapped around his neck. All Riki would have to do is pull on each end until the man passed out. 

The man still had his hand on Riki’s calf. It was rising up his naked thigh. 

In one last effort for the cause, Riki caught the man’s eyes and pretended to look behind him. At the bed.

When the man turned around, Riki jumped as fast as his muscles could. He grabbed both ends of the scarf from around the man’s neck and pulled with all his might while shoving the man down on his large stomach.

Choking and panicked, the man started pulling at the scarf to free his airway, but to no avail. Riki was on his back and was using both his legs to keep them from rolling as he locked his arms while pulling. 

His arms and legs were trembling. But he did not relent. Only when the man stopped moving did Riki let go.

Unwrapping the scarf with shaking hands, Riki felt for a pulse. Weak, but there. 

He may have been mongrel. He had only ever killed in self-defence. He took no pleasure in it and avoided it when he could.

So fat man was out, but alive. Riki quickly grabbed his key card and made quick work of removing his wrists cuffs. Then, he went for the man’s clothes. They were too large for him. And humiliatingly ugly, however, they were better than a black thong.

He found credit cards, as well as cash money. He put on the man’s boots and listened at the door. He could hear the muffled sounds still. They seemed far away.

Gently, he opened the door and looked, ready to close it at the sight of anyone. The hall seemed empty. Riki looked left, then right, and decided to head for the stairwells on his left. He ran as silently as he could. Riki’s instincts brought him in the basement. It looked like a warehouse. Good.

He could hide here. He could hear the voices now. It sounded like an auction. 

Had he been auctioned too?

Never mind, he had no time for this!

He had to go. Now! Spotting trash bins, in front of a wide door, he crept closer. 

He examined the door. There weren’t any alarms to it that he could see. If one door would be unlocked, it’d be the one to take out the trash. 

Riki pushed it open slowly. He was ready to run back in should there be people outside, or run out if an alarm went off. Adrenaline was driving him. 

No alarm rang. It was night out. With no one in sight, Riki stepped out and looked around, wondering where to go and what to do. 

The side of the building Riki was on was facing a hill. However, beyond the trees, Riki could see city lights reflected on the clouds. They seemed far away though.

Wasting no time, he took off. He made quick work of the metal fence. 

He kept walking for hours until he reached the outskirt of the city. 

This was not Midas. Or any city he knew. 

If fact, the forest he had been walking through was also foreign. The scenery was unfamiliar, the trees were odd. The wildlife sounds were unknown to Riki. Either, he was far off on Amoi, or he was on another planet altogether…

Dread sank in. Then came exhaustion. His adrenaline long gone. Riki was worn out, thirsty and hungry. Sitting down behind a bush, he looked at the cash he had taken from Fat man. He had 205 credits. In order to cash out money from the credit card, he’d have to find a cash withdrawal booth. In a foreign city that would not be easy. It would also be risky. And fuck he was tired.  
He got up again. Legs shaking slightly. And he walked into the city.

Unlike Midas, this city was well and truly asleep at night. 

Riki was the only person in the streets, aside from a drunk homeless man sleeping on a park bench, which Riki was careful to avoid. 

Luck found him in the form of a pair of factory overalls hanging from a cloth line behind a suburb apartment complex. Riki grabbed it and changed right there in the dark backyard. Using Fat man’s shirt as a makeshift bag to store his previous clothes, Riki went on, now looking less flamboyant and feeling more and more like himself.

He ended up walking on a street where a few cars and people could be seen. A busier street. Riki spotted a convenience store that was open. He went in and spotted a cash machine. First, he purchased a bottle of water and a few energy bars with the credits he had. The cashier was a very polite and cheerful man who smiled at Riki and thanked him for his purchase. Riki was baffled by such amiability. 

Then, he went at the back of the store to attempt to withdraw cash. As much as he could. He’d done this before in Midas with his gang. He knew several tricks.

Turned out with Fat man’s key card only – and without any PIN code – Riki was able to cash out 1000 credits. With his gang, 1000 credits would mean a few days of celebration. Today, it meant he had a bit of security. Only a bit. For a little while. However, he couldn’t afford to be solely reliant on this cash. He needed an income, and a roof over his head. Most importantly, right now, he needed rest. His limbs were heavy, his head still ached. The whole night had been crashing down on him repeatedly, but he had refused to stop. Now, he was at his limit. He threw away Fat man’s credit card and key card. Those could too easily lead them, whoever they were, to him. He took no chances.

Out in the streets, he figured he was in a residential area. There were apartment blocks lining up. Most had back streets with fences. Also, many had side stairwells. Those were generally only used for emergencies. In Ceres, some old buildings had them. Riki and his gang used them to climb their way up to the rooftops. Roofs were safe, barely anyone went there. So, he spotted a building and quietly climbed the stairs as to not draw attention to himself by the sleeping inhabitants. Reaching the top, the climbed a window sill and, using his grip on the edge of the building, climbed on the roof. 

Looking around the edges, he determined the only way one could easily climb was as he had done. There was no other access to it. Riki would be remotely safe for a few hours. He hoped. 

So he lied down at the complete opposite, ate one energy bar, drank half his water bottle, and slept. 

When he awoke, the street was loud with noise, the sun was high in the sky. He estimated it was around noon. Gone was his tiredness for it was replaced by small waves of fear and the driving force of his survival instinct. He needed a place to stay mostly, then money to pay for it. Carefully, he went down the building with his makeshift bag (Fat man’s shirt). If people noticed him, none gave him any trouble. Walking around the streets, he tried to spot street names, billboards, anything written that would be of help. Finally, he saw a newspaper stand and purchased one.

Well, what he had been doubting from the start turned out to be true. He was no longer on Amoi, but on Nemarran. He knew of this planet. In fact, he and his gang had often talked about going there. Their reason was simple. Nemarran was a manufacturing planet, it had factories all over and one of its biggest client was Amoi. It was rumored to hire anyone who wanted a job. They even had lodging programs for workers to increase their staff. The only issue with that plan was the cost to get there. Space transport was anything but cheap. And for mongrels…well, no one would ever allow them on a ship.

However, he was here now. That, in itself, was fantastic news. All he needed to do was find the industrial areas and sign up for work. He asked the man who sold him the newspaper, inquiring about the living accommodations and factory work. The man was kind and indicated how to get there. He even offered advice about which factory to choose from based on Riki’s interests. Riki was so grateful, he purchased a map of the city, then left. He couldn’t believe how nice people here were!

Back in Midas and Ceres, it was every man for himself, everyone despised mongrels, even mongrels. No one gave any advice, or smiled. Those things needed to be paid for, in cash or else.  
Not wanting to spend too much money, Riki walked to the industrial district of the city. It was a good hour walk, but it allowed him to use his map and locate various stores and useful locations. He spotted a supermarket, a thrift shop, a terminal café. Stuff he would need eventually.

He made it to the reception of a building the kind man from the newspapers stand had told him about. It was the factory workers housing and hire station. Basically, you signed up a contract, worked your shift and slept in a small room offered by the factories.

Once inside, Riki was greeted by a red-haired middle aged woman with big glasses and red nails. She was furiously typing on a terminal keyboard. Riki approached her, but said nothing, waiting to be acknowledged. When she was done typing, she lifted her head and cheerfully asked “Hi, here to sign up for work?”

Riki was still in shock by the friendliness with which he was spoken to here “Hum, yeah…”

“Can you read and write?” she inquired.

“…Yeah”

“Any injuries we need to know about?”

“None”

“Any fields of interest, then?”

“Motorbikes, cars, terminals, electronics…”

“Any particular skills in those fields?”

He hesitated. “I used to build bikes with broken parts and get them running again. Same with terminals. I don’t know if that counts…”

“Well, it certainly does. Here, how about this. I’ll sign you up with the electro-mechanics team. They’re the fixers of all automated machinery. You’ll be on the evening shift. It’ll allow you to touch several fields and learn a lot. You’re a young one, you’ll learn quick and those jobs are always in demand.” 

“Did you also want to live in the factory residence?” she went on, putting her hand under her chin, watching him patiently.

“Hum…can I?”

“Well, off course, this is what the program is about darling. Now, your hourly salary will be decreased of course. However, you’ll be given a small clean room to yourself with basic furniture. 

You’ll have access to communal showers and bathrooms, laundromat, cafeteria for three healthy meals a day. We even have a small shop for essential purchases, like toothbrushes and the likes. Many of our new employees are off worlders. They come here only for work. This is how we managed to adapt with the ever increasing demand of the market. We made it attractive for workers to come to us.”

“Now, your room will be on Building 4, second floor, room 42-5490. Work starts at 4 in the afternoon until midnight. You’ll have to be at Building 14 at 4 without delays. Ask for Nials Burk.” 

Looking at the time, she added “I guess that leaves you 2 hours to get settled, dear. There is a cafeteria in your building, here’s your access card. Do not loose it. This is how your hours are being recorded, the key to your room and access to every other service in the residence.”

Riki was listening to all of it. She explained how the access cards were programmable and could be deactivated. How absences needed to be justified. More than three unjustified skips meant he was no longer allowed accommodations. And off course, anytime he wanted to rent or buy his own place, his salary would be revised and his room would be available for another.  
The conditions went on and red lady expertly explained them at length. In the end, he had one hour to eat and wash up before finding Nials Burk in building 14.

Riki was amazed. They had fucking shuttles! All over! Workers beeped their cards and were driven around in shuttles. Turned out building 4 and 14 were near neighbours. The residences and factories were all lined up, with big numbers written on them.

Riki found his way to his building and went for food. That was the priority right now. Hygiene would have to wait until after.

Again, the men and women working at the cafeteria were kind and smiled to him bidding him a good day. He awkwardly thanked them. He received beans with roasted potatoes and broccoli. A cup of water was provided with 3 slices of apple. He ate and drank it all within minutes. 

Quickly, he went to his room and stored the few belongings he had. He kept his cash on him at all time though. He wasn’t risking someone robbing him.

Sitting down on the bed staring at his reflection in the mirror ahead, he allowed himself to thinking of the past 24 hours. 

He recognized himself. The person looking back at him was definitely Riki the Dark. Black almond shaped eyes surrounded by dark lashes. A sharp jaw, thin face, full lips, short black hair.

This was him. However, he was older. He was not the 15 years old teenager he remembered being. This man staring at him was in his early twenties. Looking at his hands, scars he knew to be there were gone. Not faded, no. Gone. 

The little facial hair his fifteen year-old self was proudly attempting to grow was also gone. Hell, his pubic hair was gone!

The Fat man’s words rung in his ears _No wonder he kept you for so long_.

Riki was forced to acknowledge he was missing several years. Looking at the date on the newspaper he had purchased, he sighed. Six years. He had a 6 year memory gap. 

What the fuck had happened?

No wonder he kept you for so long.

Who had Fat man been talking about? 

Finally, he interrupted his dark train of thought.

Not now, he told himself. 

Later. 

Standing, he went to work.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Nials Burk was an electro-mechanic with 20 years of experience under his belt and a mouth that never stopped talking. The man was so cheerful and happy it was impossible not to feel some of the waves. On the bright side, his constant chatter allowed Riki to listen and talk very little of himself. It helped him avoid having to answer questions he didn’t have the answers to. It also helped Riki learn. Nials liked to explain, in details, what he was doing and why. Riki had always had an inquisitive mind. His curiosity and intelligence had been the reasons why he had ended up as the leader of his gang. He was a fast learner. He had a sharp mind and once he understood a principle, he could apply it well, and then extrapolate. Therefore, working under Nials was a true blessing for him.

The downside of Nials’ near never-ending prattling was that now, Riki knew he and his wife had been married 19 years. They had 6 children, Ben, Walter, William, Leo, Kily and Jenny. His wife, Betty was the love of his life and every Sundays, he made pancakes for her and the kids. His three youngest were still in elementary school, the oldest was studying to be an architect, Ben was working in construction, Leo had no idea what to do with his life and kept changing school topics to his wife’s great exasperation…

And it went on. 

So, the oversharing was a bit much. But overall, Riki didn’t mind. He was lulled in a sense of security with this big, happy and simple family man. 

Three days of working with the man and Riki practically felt like he had a new family he had never met. Until that changed. 

They had been called to station 3B, machine Altar 5 for an urgent repair. Nials made his way to the station, his tools making clicking sounds as he walked. He started loudly singing some old romantic song. His singing could be heard over the roaring of a roomful of equipment. As they got nearer, Riki saw the lady operating the machine had blond hair held in a bun. She wore make up and was smiling brightly. Then, she started singing along with Nials.

“Riki, may I introduce you to my beautiful wife, Betty” he shouted over the factory noise while courteously kissing his wife’s hand.

“Betty, this is Riki, my smart new recruit.”

Riki politely bowed his head to Betty. With the surrounding noises, he talked as little as he could.

Then, Betty did something that completely floored him. She _hugged_ him! 

“Hi! Oh, aren’t handsome! Nials, you didn’t tell me he was such a cute one!”

Nials barked out a laughter “Slipped my mind love!”

Both electro-mechanics set up to work. A piece of the equipment had eroded over time and now required replacement. The new setup that had been installed on the machine was prematurely wearing out parts that had previously needed yearly replacement. Nials wrote down in his notepad to change the maintenance schedule for a quarterly one instead.

As the days past, Riki started to remember names and faces. The workers were all in good spirits, they smiled and traded jokes. It seemed to Riki many had known each other for long. 

Callahan was an old man who had been a factory worker for 40 years. He had 16 grand-children and was retiring next spring. Sylvia was a young woman from planet Tellian 5 that was sick of agriculture and wanted to try something new. Kyle was an anxious young man so much in love with Sylvia everyone knew about it. Even Riki.

While he and Nials were eating their evening meal during their break, Betty came to join them with her friend Martha. Martha was an petite woman who’s dream was to open her own bakery. As Riki ate, he listened to Betty and Nials chitchat about their day, their kids and so on.

Then, Martha asked “Betty, have you told Riki of how you and Nials met?”

Betty’s eyes lit up at hearing those words. “I haven’t! But, I should! Such a story! So, I was working in building 14, but on an Altar 1, an older model, you see. I was young and foolish…” she said sheepishly. “I wore a pink scarf around my neck because it matched my make up” she rolled her eyes as she probably remembered her look back then and the bad decision it most likely would turn out to be. “I bent over to pick up a box and then it happened so fast! My scarf went it! I was nearly disfigured, were it not for a brave electro-mechanic recruit that had started working just that day” she spoke as she looked lovingly at her husband, a soft dreamy look on her features. “He jumped in, pulled on the scarf until it tore from the gears and freed me.”

“That was the start of a beautiful, loving relationship” she added.

“And the start of a very strict and safety-oriented dress code for factory workers” Nials supplemented. 

Betty chuckled and sighed. “One of the best thing that happened to me, you know” she spoke softly looking at Riki, this time.

Riki found he liked Betty. Not as a man fancies a woman, but as a friend. She was authentic. She didn’t lie. She had a kind sort of honesty and most of all she was caring. People like her no longer existed on Amoi.

As Riki got to know his workplace and environment, the nervousness and vulnerability of being on an unknown planet faded somewhat. He started expanding his knowledge and activities.

He went to the thrift shop where he purchased some clothes and a backpack. He fell back into his old mongrel ways and sewed secret pockets to his clothes and boots to store cash and things he thought useful. 

He found out some of the worker’s residences had gyms and started working out. As a mongrel, agility, strength and speed were often the only advantages he had. They had kept him alive in the past. With 6 years missing, he had no idea what he might be up against. Was there a past about to catch up to him? Maybe, then again, maybe not. However, Riki was a survivor, therefore, he trained himself to stay fit. Training helped him clear his mind, since his mind was anything but that.

He had never been one to dwell on dreams. He rarely remembered them. He had never bothered interpreting those he did remember. He hadn’t cared back then.

Now, on the other hand, his dreams were something else. Fucked up would be a good way to describe them in his opinion. 

His surroundings were either very dark or too bright. Not much was clear, but his feelings were. He often dreamt of captivity, shame, oppression. 

And Fear. A lot of fear mixed with a lot of shame. 

Then, more humiliation would drop in, tinted with misery.

Since they mostly occurred when he went to sleep trying to remember his past and were so damn depressing, Riki started dreading them and took on meditating before bedtime. He was now a mongrel practicing meditation techniques. He felt ancient.

There were terminal stations available and a library. Riki had taken to reading books, but still avoided the terminals. He wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to research Amoi. And the evening he arrived on Nemarran. He felt this might be a case of ‘Curiosity killed the cat’. Finding out the truth would ruin things for him. But then his survival instinct would kick in and remind him knowledge WAS survival.

Okay, so he was taking his time and trying to get back on his feet before diving back in what most likely was 6 shitty years on Amoi. What if he wanted to enjoy himself a bit?

But then again, people could be looking for him. Needing him? What about Guy?

Shit.

A month had passed. Riki was well settled now. He was getting good at his job and still learned new things everyday. He was behaving more like the ‘locals’ and less like a mongrel, smiling and talking to people. He was, however, very cautious when talking about himself. Truth was, he simply didn’t know himself anymore. His small room was still bare, but he now had the minimum he required to live. He was in the process of working up the courage to start his research of the past 6 years. He was ready, he thought, but lacked the drive to dive in.

To his big surprise, it was Betty that delivered the push he had needed.

He was sitting on his own in the cafeteria during his lunch break. He was reading a mystery novel. Betty came to join him, holding her food platter. 

“Do you mind if I sit with you dear?”

Riki smiled at her, “Of course not.” How very ‘local’ of him. He was proud.

As Betty ate, she would eye him, thoughtful.

Riki tried not to make deal of it. But he felt something was coming.

And it did.

“It’s okay you know, Riki” she said reassuringly. 

Riki frowned, he didn’t know where this was going “What is?”

“Nobody here has a nice past, you see. No one is judging. We all came here for second chances.”

It seemed that his attempts at remaining vague about his past had risen suspicions…

He remained silent. He didn’t know what to say.

“I was born on Amoi too, you see.” She spoke gently. “I was an Academy-manufactured pet, believe it or not.” She had a sad smile on her face.

Riki was frozen on his chair. His eyes wide. Betty, a pet?! No fucking way!

“I was just like the other ones, you see, proud, ignorant... so ignorant. I was bought by an Onyx of Tanagura. I was so happy. My whole life I had been told that THIS was the dream to achieve. And I had believed them. It was all I knew… One day, I tripped over a ledge and fell. I was fourteen. I hurt my head and ended up with this scar right here” she pointed at her forehead. Riki could see the thin line, barely visible now.

Her voice was rough now, with emotions “When my owner, a man whom I loved and respected with my whole being looked at me as I bled in the hospital bed, he sneered and told the healers not to bother. That I wasn’t worth enough to pay for treatment. He told them to get me out of his sight.” 

Riki had never spoken to a pet in his life. Or a former pet, in this case. He had always felt nothing but contempt for them. Pets, in the slums, were trash. Hearing Betty’s story now, though, made him rethink his previous judgmental opinion. Pets were just other victims of the system on Amoi, it seemed.

“I was…beyond crushed” she went on. “My whole existence had crumbled. And nobody cared about that. My distress, my pain. It was inconsequential to any of them. I was worthless. Within days, I had been sold to a factory owner, here on Nemarran with many others. They put me on a machine and told me to work. I was so depressed. I cried for hours every night. All my life I had been taught that being anything but a pet was a disgrace and I believed it. Ignorant as I was.”

She cheered up a bit now, as spoke again.

“Then, gradually, I picked myself up. I learned to read with the help of other workers. I ventured out in the city. My first bus ride was the most thrilling day of my young life. I was sixteen when I really started living, you see. At that age, I realized that scar on my forehead had a been a blessing.”

Then, her tone became sad, if not hurt, as she added “At first, I remembered my days on Amoi as treasures. But then, as I started living, I saw the awful truth. Thinking back of those days brought me so much shame it burned!” she had her hands on her heart, as if still feeling the ache. 

“They had kept me ignorant so they could use me. They had convinced me that those chains around my neck were treasures so I would love my own servitude.” Her voice betrayed all the pain she felt.

Riki felt for her. He was suddenly sorry for every ill thought he had ever had against pets. Was this the awakening they had in their lives? It sounded brutal. Probably just as much as being kick out of Guardian and into the slums had been.

This was the other side of the pet’s lives. The one people on Amoi didn’t know or care about. The fall. The pain. The abandonment. The ignorance and vulnerability.

Riki understood that all too well. He had never thought he’d find a kindred spirit in a former pet. Yet, here he was.

“I’m a mongrel from Ceres.” He said simply. He had no other words to make this shinier or prettier. 

It was what it was.

Then he couldn’t stop himself as he added “But I swear, I’m not some violent criminal or anything! They vilified us so much on Amoi…we’re not…we’re just a bunch of kids trying to survive on scraps…”

Betty looked so sad as she reached out for his hand. “I would never have thought that of you, my dear.”

“Thank you for telling me” she added with a kind smile. “I’m surprised though, I truly thought you were a pet too…” she went on thoughtfully. “You’re very good looking for a mongrel, you know?” she teased.

“I’m not a pet…” he hesitated “at least I don’t think so…”

Betty looked confused “What do you mean?”

Biting his lips, Riki didn’t know where to start. “I don’t remember how I got here…or the past several years of my life. I woke up in an auction, here on Nemarran, with no memory of how any of it happened…”

He sighed. “I have to go back now, please, can we keep this between us?”

“Of course dear” she reassured him, in her motherly tone.

That night, he went to bed thinking of Betty and her past as a pet. And how she had been given a second chance which had resulted in a loving marriage and 6 healthy, educated children. 

Riki had never longed for a mother in his life, but he had to admit, if he had ever wished for one, it would have been Betty. A former pet. 

Just like that, he felt he was ready to face his past. Who knew what his second chance would bring…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Iason was seething.

He knew exactly how this had come to be.

Nobody had cared because nobody had any kind of interest about this specific topic.

Cheap pets were disappearing. So what? 

Iason had found the first case had been declared three years ago. A casino owner had stated three of his pets had gone missing. Nobody had cared. His pets had most likely ran away. Or gotten lost. The man had insisted they had been taken. He had been told to shut up and get new pets. Period.

The same situation had occurred all over Midas. Pets going missing. Owners filing their disappearances, authorities didn’t care about pets. Therefore, the files were closed. Simple. 

Pets were disposables. Inconsequential. No one wanted to _invest_ in finding them. Why bother. 

Shut up and get a new one. The end.

Three years later, Iason Mink was sitting in his office, seething. He was watching a footage from three days ago of the security camera in Riki’s condo in Apatia. He watched as three men broke inside his home, assaulted Riki and injected something in his pet’s neck. Then, he watched as Riki fought them with the viciousness of a cornered Ceres mongrel, taking out two of them, almost leading to his escape, until the drug slowed him down. 

They cautiously carried his unconscious mongrel out of the building into a black SUV.

That is how the whole pet disappearance had ended up in the lap of Eos’ most prominent Blondie, Iason Mink.

Iason’s first move had been to immediately contact Katze and have him search for Riki. He sent the former furniture every lead he had, from the footage of Riki’s condo, to the car’s registration. His orders were straightforward. Find Riki and retrieve him at all cost.

His next move had been to dig every case of pet disappearance. What followed was the true prowess of enhanced Blondie intelligence. He had cross referenced the collected data of 3417 cases of pet disappearances. Eliminated 1682 that were genuine runaways or lost pets.

What had been left were 1735 cases of pets disappearances that could not be explained. Considering no one had been bothered to investigate, little information had been available. Iason had had to access multiple footages of restaurants, casinos, brothels to find out more about those cases. What he found were 756 sights of very obvious pet abductions that NONE had identified. 

This was appalling. 

More digging on the pets themselves had uncovered the targets had all been, at some point, the pets of Tanagura Blondies, Silvers or Onyxes.  
Iason could only draw one conclusion from that. There was an underground market for Tanagura former pets. And now they had Riki.

Iason’s formidable brain provided several action plans. 

First, update Katze on the situation. Iason needed to know every detail on any underground dealings. He was baffled he didn’t already know. Had Katze been hiding things from him?

“I assure you, Sir, I have heard of no such dealings. I will, however, inquire to every source I have to find out everything.” The red haired man had bowed and hung up the video conference.

Had Katze been losing his touch then? Was it time to find a replacement?

Considering no other Blondie Silver or Onyx had caught a whiff of anything, Iason restrained himself from judging his employee too severely.   
Clearly, there was a smuggling ring of pets operating in Midas and its surroundings. They did not appear to be _that_ well organized. They had simply chosen very unimportant targets. 

Until Riki.

Once more, Iason was enraged, but his anger was directed towards himself this time. Since the event at Dana Bahn, Riki and Iason had had huge breakthroughs. There was less anger on Riki’s part, and less possessiveness on Iason’s. Still, there had been one subject on which they had not seen eye to eye, but eventually, Iason had relented.

The pet ring. 

Riki had been maimed because of it. Even after the full reconstruction of his sexual organ, his pet had remained troubled at the idea of suffering yet another amputation because of the damn ring. Riki had asked Iason not to have one that required cutting off body parts to be removed. In fact, since Riki lived in Apatia, he did not need one at all. Iason had been forced to admit that it was true.

Therefore, Iason had currently no way to track Riki. At least, he had not found severed body parts of his pet in the condo. 

Iason found himself running through every registry and log for departing ships along with their content for the past three years. He was comparing dates and video footage of the docks. He also tracked the SUV that held Riki as far as the east docks. He knew they had taken him off planet. 

Katze provided him with the information he was missing. “The smuggling ring is based on Tamaran. However, they sell pets on several other planets such as Kellian, Nemarran, and Sorvi 4. Nearly all of them have laws forbidding the ownership of humans. And yet, apparently, there is quite a demand.”

“From what I found, the operation had been quite small in the past two years. But, since the word has passed around, it has created an interest. It is becoming a fashion to own a pet from Amoi. Unsurprisingly, those that get the most attention are pets that have previously belonged to Tanagura Blondies and the likes.”

Katze offered all the information with the coldness and impassive detachment one would expect of a furniture. He, then, got into the important part of the discussion “I managed to track the space cruiser that transported Riki. I hacked into twelve satellites and three governmental security checks. The ship passes as a transporter with raw material from the mines of Davios. Which it actually is. Still, they are also transporting unregistered livestock. Riki’s ship was headed to Nemarran. It landed two days ago.”

“I’m currently trying to hack into the pet smuggling ring’s data. I’m looking for names and companies that are laundering money from this. Unfortunately, this is a hit and miss kind of work. I have no reliable information on who runs this organization. More so, as of now, I cannot tell what has happened to Riki. I do not know of his status, aside that he was on Nemarran two days ago.”

Provided with this new information, Iason formed a strategy. He knew Nemarran very well. Tanagura was Nemarran’s biggest client. Therefore, Jupiter required a very tight knitted relationship with its partner. The AI had even gone as far as to inquire if a Blondie would consent to act as a diplomatic representative and permanently reside on Nemarran. So far, none of Iason’s brothers had volunteered. Neither had Iason.

Perhaps, it was time to offer his services, if only temporarily. Iason was nothing if not a benevolent leader after all. He always aimed to please his esteemed creator. 

Walking into Jupiter’s temple, he bowed with a reverence only reserved for the AI. Calm and composed, Iason volunteered to be the first Blondie to act as a liaison in Nemarran as part of a diplomatic procedure for the long lasting development of Amoi. He was honored to test this new project provided by their creator and looked forward to be a part of it.

Jupiter was immensely pleased and was, once more, reminded of why Iason Mink was her favorite and most effective creation. Iason quickly reassured her that he would keep up most of his duties once relocated in Nemarran and delegate those he could not manage from afar. 

He was to leave in 4 days. His return would be determined based on the situation on the foreign planet.

With his creator’s blessing, Iason called Katze and told him to be ready to leave for Nemarran in 4 days time. 

The four days that followed were bothersome for Iason. His tremendous mind could process nearly anything at incredible speed. He could easily plan how he would manage on another planet. He quickly found what to delegate and to whom. His tasks were performed swiftly. 

Still, with Riki’s whereabouts unknown, a disquiet lurked in Iason’s mind. He knew all too well of the changes Riki had had on him. This had been the biggest, by far. The one Iason had been most unwilling to admit. How Riki had awakened _emotions_ within him. Their intensity was staggering, their complexity unending. How easy it was to understand emotions with enhanced cerebral functions. How exceedingly laborious it was to handle them! His extraordinary intellect was useless in the face of jealousy, desire…love. If at all, Iason believed his superior brain made these feelings more intense. His status as a Blondie had only made things worst for them both. As a Blondie, he had always gotten what he had wanted. 

He had wanted all of Riki. As a Blondie, he had taken him. Only, in this case, the situation had not been so simple and Riki had shoved it in his face by not giving an inch. 

By keeping his mind a closed fortress beyond his reach.

By refusing Iason systematically. 

The more Iason had taken, the higher Riki’s walls had gotten.

And with reasons. Iason was now beginning to understand how spoiled he had been as a Blondie. How blind. Because now he cared. A lot. 

Sitting in the ship, Iason was in his private booth. Katze was further down the isle furiously typing on the keyboard of his terminal. The only discovery they had made in the past four days was that Riki’s ship had landed on dock 563 near Nemarran’s capital, the city of Talia. The city was a major manufacturing center and contained more than 25% of all the planet’s factories.

Unfortunately, when they accessed the security cameras of the dock, they had found the footages had been meddled with. Katze had quickly spotted inconsistencies that had allowed him to recognize the system had been hacked in order to loop surveillance videos and hide what had actually occurred during the night of the landing. 

Uncrypting the codes that hid the real footage took time. Especially from afar. Until they had direct access to the dock’s security system, they had no choice but to wait.

Iason’s patience was wearing thin. Riki had been missing for nearly 8 days now. They would lose another day just for space travel.

At his arrival, to add insult to injury, he was forced to keep a diplomatic appearance and act as a representative of Tanagura in the name of Jupiter. While Iason was shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with factory owners in a villa near the lake, Katze was walking confidently inside dock 563 as if he owned the place.

His laptop secure in his hands, he told however was asking that he was in charge of the maintenance for the heating systems of the dock’s warehouse. With winter well on its way, this shit had to run properly. Everyone agreed and let him do as he pleased.

Katze first got to the power room where all the systems were. He plugged his computer, along with a decoder and three ATR300 plugs to improve the speed and got started. The building had 56 security cameras. The algorithm used to loop the footage had been setup in the main system. Good. That would reduce the workload.

Three hours later, Katze had all the actual footage uploaded in his computer. Entering Riki’s photograph in the facial recognition system, he had his computer scan each footage for the mongrel.

He found Riki’s unconscious form as he was being auctioned. His slight movement towards the end seemed to indicate he was starting to awaken. 

Afterwards, Katze had to manually track the auction vessel Riki was locked into as it was being moved by two men, followed by a third – the buyer. He was led in one of the backrooms meant for the pilots to sleep into in-between flights. Room 17. The two men quickly left. The buyer closed the door.

There was no footage from within room 17. However, less than 10 minutes later, he saw Riki, wearing the buyer’s clothes make a run for it. 

Tracking him, Katze found he left through the warehouse and went out through the door on the east side of the building. The last sight he caught of the mongrel, he was climbing a fence and running into the woods. Towards Talia.

Katze left and went straight to his hotel room. He waited for Iason’s call. In the meantime, he gathered all footages of Riki and sent them to Iason. Then, he researched the buyer. 

He was very easy to identify. The man was Adamon Gal, a famous confederacy advocate for human rights. He stood against any kind of human ownership. And there he was on Katze’s screen, purchasing Riki. What a hypocrite. 

At least, now Katze knew what they were up against. Riki was not shackled somewhere with a new owner. He was free and was most likely hiding in Talia. 

As Iason contacted him, Katze was in the process of trying to break into Adamon’s finances to see where the cash for Riki had gone.

Katze informed him of all his discoveries. Including the part where Adamon Gal had purchased Riki. 

Katze was highly surprised by the angry scowl that dressed his master’s features at the mention of the man. Turned out Adamon had been an enemy of Tanagura for several decades. Iason was repulsed by the idea of the man laying a hand on his property, but amused at the knowledge his pet had evaded him within minutes. If Katze hadn’t known better, he would have thought Iason had a hint of smugness as he mentioned he had kept Riki for _years_. 

The idea that Riki was hiding in Talia was troubling. It meant they were looking for a needle in a haystack. The mongrel would likely keep a low profile and therefore would be difficult to track.

As Katze spoke of his plan to research Adamon’s finances, Iason took the searching for Riki.

After a few hours of sleep, Katze was awakened by the beeping of his computer, alerting him he had accessed the man’s accounts. He didn’t have a company name for the astonishing sum of 6 million credits paid for the ownership of Riki. Only an account number. Which Katze now had to track down also.

His next and last victory was the amount of 1000 credits withdrawn from a cash booth in a shop at the outskirt of Talia. Locating the shop and looking at the time of withdrawal, it could only mean one thing, Riki had been in possession of Adamon’s credit card. He called Iason.

Iason was puzzled. If Riki was on an unknown planet, why had he not tried to contact him? Perhaps he was hiding? Or it could be money issues. From the footage he had seen. Riki had not looked harmed. He had not been limping, or favoring a particular side. Nothing led him to believe his pet’s health was compromised.

The security camera of the shop Riki had visited showed he was now dressed as a factory worker. He had purchased water and food and gone out. Unfortunately for Iason, there were very few street cameras in Talia, therefore that was the last he had seen of his pet. 

Since his options were thin at the moment and he had to attend a preliminary budget meeting in the morning, he setup to locate other pets purchased that night with Riki.

Pet R789DC had been sold to the heir of a mining company. It had been brought back to the man’s home, where it currently resided. As the pets were illegally sold to their new owners, a key containing the summary of their pedigree and previous owners was given as proof. It was nothing close to what existed on Amoi, where pets files were redacted with extreme care and detail. However, as Iason broke into the man’s terminal and read the summary for R789DC, a note caught his attention. _Pets are given Delta-2,4,6-tertiary amino compound for restoration to factory settings._

_Delta-2,4,6-tertiary amino compound_ , the cheap way to brainwash a pet. Iason sneered. The calculation was easy. Know the pet’s weight and age. Estimate the number of years to remove from its memory. Administer the proper dose. Calculators were available online with the formula already programmed in for quick and easy dose calculations. Then, what you had was a pet fresh out of the academy with no memories of its former owners. 

According to the data, less than 3% of pets regained their memories in the first year following administration of the compound. Around 25% remembered their past after two years. Then, the percentage went up as the years passed. All pets ever injected with Delta-2,4,6-tertiary amino compound had regained their lost memories after 5 years.

Iason thought of Riki. How many years had they removed? If he remembered Iason in their early days, Riki was, in all likelihood, hiding from him.  
Iason called Katze to let him know. Then, trying to evade the turmoil of emotions storming within him, he attempted to clear his mind and rest.

A month! Riki had been missing for a whole month and neither Iason or Katze could find a virtual track of him. Riki was laying low. Both Iason and Katze had agreed, Riki was most likely still in Talia. The cost for interplanetary flights was exorbitant. More so, there were plenty of places to hide right here. Their bet was Riki had found a job in one of the factories. They hired all who wished to work and Riki, having escaped with nothing but a bit of cash from an auction with years of memories missing, would have been in dire need of an income, food and shelter. Iason knew his pet well enough to identify this as Riki’s most probable course of action. However, factories hired hundreds of thousands of people in Talia alone. There were 47 industrial districts in the city. Combing through them proved to be a tedious task. Additionally, Katze had been forced to go back to Amoi to settle urgent matters. Iason had his representative duties to account for. He would spent his entire days attending meetings and negotiating contracts. Then, once in his home by the lake, he would spend his entire evening looking into the recent employees in every plant, hoping to catch sight of a familiar mongrel name.

More than once, he caught himself thinking of what he would do should Riki have no recollections of him. Would he try the same thing twice? 

Imprison him, force him, train him. Or would he learn from past mistakes and skip to the nicer parts? 

Iason’s initial actions back then had originated from his pride as a Blondie. They were based on his preconceived idea of what a pet should be, his instilled hatred for mongrels and the absence of any sentiment for the young man.

Now, however, Iason willingly admitted his love for Riki. He knew Riki better than most. Still, the young man had many secrets he had always been reluctant to share with the one he viewed as his incarcerator, his tormentor. In the past years, Iason had gradually come to…rethink his decision to treat Riki in a manner the young man had considered cruel and humiliating. He was now beginning to understand the foundation of their relationship had been unequal, unfair and non consensual for the mongrel. Unfortunately, Iason had reaped what he had sowed. He’d fallen for a young man who wanted nothing but to run away from him. He had doomed their relationship from the very start, never taking into account that he, himself, would be changed. That pain was sharp and constant. 

Perhaps, he dared to hope, this time, he could approach Riki in a different manner and obtain a different result?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Five weeks since the beginning of this new life and Riki felt what he could possibly describe as happiness. Or at least a diluted form of it. The air outside was getting colder by the day. 

Autumn was here. The trees around the town were beautiful and Riki had been told there would be snow soon. Betty had even brought him a bag full of one of her son’s winter clothes, including boots, which, for a mongrel of Ceres, was practically a treasure! She had insisted he kept them and that nothing was asked in return. 

“I only want you to enjoy your first winter here, darling” She had said, smiling kindly at him. “It gets really cold. Without proper winter clothes, you’ll hate it. And I want you to love it. You deserve it.”

Riki’s routine might have been boring for some. But to him, it was precious. He had a job he loved, which earned him money, he had food everyday, a warm and clean bed to sleep into, and now, he had warm clothes. More importantly, he now had people he considered friends. 

Rolled up in his blankets, Riki was reading a romantic novel this time. He just picked any book in the library and went for it. He divided his mornings with reading, working out or researching the past 6 years. 

So far, strange explosion of Dana Bahn aside, he had found nothing spectacular had occurred on Amoi in the past 6 years. He was half scared of being the person involved in blowing up the site. But then, he reminded himself that he wasn’t the kind of person to blow shit up. He just wasn’t like that. Right?

Then, there was the matter of how he had gotten here. Riki’s most logical explanation was that he had attempted to get off the planet by taking the place of a pet about to be shipped. It made sense. Free space travel to Nemarran. Worth a shot. Only trouble was, clearly something had gone wrong since his mind had been wiped. 

He was slowly trying to make peace with that. The memory loss. 

The blankets and romantic novels helped. They kept the nightmares away and lifted his spirits. More so, now, he always looked forward to his work. He loved it here. People were kind, he had smiled more here in the past few weeks than he had in the 15 years on Amoi he remembered. He loved his job as he got to learn new things everyday. And he was good at it. Even as a recruit, people were starting to notice how skilled and hard working he was. He felt a new kind of pride now. 

The previous Monday had been a day Riki would remember forever. An emergency call had buzzed on the electro-mechanics radios. Both Riki and Nials had been nearby and had responded.

At their arrival, they both noticed the blood and the frightened operator holding his bleeding hand. Immediately, Riki stopped the machine and locked it. Nials was already on the radio, requesting immediate care for the injured man. Within minutes, a team was surrounding the wounded. He was missing a finger.

The rescue team was in the process of bandaging his hand. Meanwhile, they were monitoring the ambulance’s arrival.

Both Riki and Nials had popped the machine’s hood open and had started to look for the missing digit. With gloved hands, Riki had retrieved an index finger from the chains and had put it in the icebox held by an elderly woman. The woman had started running towards the team in charge of the wounded man.

Riki had felt an urgency to help, to assist in any way he could. He had thought about Betty’s story about nearly being disfigured. He realised more than ever how dangerous the machines could be if not handled according to the strict safety measures put in place.

The following day, Riki had learned the man’s finger had been reattached and he was going to regain full mobility with proper care and physical therapy. 

This was the pride he was feeling now. Being part of a team that did its best for others and for their mutual success. He had witness the professionalism of all the rescue team following the incident. A member of the team had even gone to the hospital with the operator. The factory had given the man several weeks of paid medical leave. More than ever, Riki felt how people here _mattered_.

Back in Amoi, the injured operator would have tossed in the streets, still bleeding, and quickly replaced by another desperate worker. 

Presently, Riki was fixing a Beltar 7 that had jammed. The lady operator was patiently waiting by his side and once he was done unlocking the machine for a successful test run, he filled the paperwork, checked for additional requirements and since there were none, left. Less than a minute had passed and his radio buzzed. Another jam. 

When he arrived at the station, he was taken aback. There stood a nervous operator. Behind him, though, stood an incredibly tall man with long blond hair. Riki was reminded of a Tanagura Blondie, but quickly pushed the idea. He was on Nemarran, and he had work to do. He focused.

His first move was to stop and lock the equipment. This was an obligatory safety measure when performing machine maintenance. Then, he listened to the operator as the young man told him of what had occurred. The tall man was an investor. He had been looking around the machines and had gotten closer to see how they worked. He was asking the operator questions about the mechanisms and accidentally, one of the gloves the man had been holding got caught in. 

His thoughts went back to Betty’s near disfigurement and Monday’s accidental amputation. Riki looked straight at the impressive man, then his hand.

“Are you injured?” Riki asked calmly, “Do you need medical attention?”

Riki could see the hand seemed fine. However, he needed to make sure of this man’s safety before anything else.

The man was calmly assessing Riki. Then he replied in a deep voice “I am unharmed. Thank you for asking. Only the glove went it. My apologies for the trouble.”

Riki quickly checked the operator’s physical state also. They were both uninjured. Good.

Riki smiled, “Don’t worry about the machine, I’ll fix that. Your glove probably won’t make it, though…”

He turned around and, using his key, unlocked the machine’s hood to fix it. 

He felt, more than he saw, the tall man approach behind him. Riki was used to it by now, frequently, when the fixing began, operators with nothing to do but wait would take an interest in their equipment’s maintenance.

“I find myself very curious as to what you are doing” the man said, “could you walk me through the steps?”

“Yeah, sure” Riki replied as he worked. “This machine is an RR13. It is meant to cut down the tubing into even bits. Your glove got caught in the conveyor belt. Since the belt rotates through the machine, I just need to open it up and get it out.” Riki used his tools to get the torn white glove out of the machine. Then he checked further to ensure no piece of threads had gotten lost. 

Finally, he looked at the machine’s log to check if other maintenance actions were scheduled. When he saw there were none, he closed it up and started the test run. Seeing everything worked just fine, he released the machine to the operator and wrote down the event in the log.

Looking back at the tall man still watching him, “Can I walk you back to the head office?” Riki asked. He wasn’t sure he felt comfortable leaving the man alone to roam in the factory. He still had one glove left after all…

The man looked surprised, but immediately agreed. Riki took the shortest way out of the noisy room, and entered a quieter environment. He removed his safety goggles and ear protections then.

“You seem to know your work very well, how long have you been working here?” Tall Blond spoke as he followed Riki through the halls and offices.

“Hum…a few weeks only.”

“I’m surprised to hear that, you worked with remarkable efficiency. Do you pay such attention to your colleagues injuries systematically?”

Since this was an investor, Riki did not want to get into the recent accident. He felt somehow this should be dealt with internally and not broadcasted to business officials. 

“We do. There are strict safety measures in place, but the machines remain dangerous. It is important to look after the health of the workers. We are a team. Everyone matters.” Riki explained. He could scarcely believe he was speaking those words. On Ceres this notion would have been ridiculous. Here, though, it was nothing but the truth. This was the climate of the Talia factories. At least, the one he worked into.

“That is both noble and respectable. During my visit, I have noticed how workers seemed happy. Are you happy with you workplace…I didn’t quite catch your name” Tall Blond inquired.

“Oh, I’m Riki.”

“Enchanted to make your acquaintance Riki, I am Iason Mink.” Tall Blond, Iason Mink, smiled charmingly and extended his gloveless right hand for Riki to shake it. Which he did.

“Pleased to meet you” Riki replied back, smiling back.

“And, I do like it here.” Thoughtfully, he added “No one here comes from a nice place…we’re all here for a second chance.” Shrugging, he went on “It’s nice, to be part of a team and having your work valued…As second chances go, this is more than most were hoping for.” 

Iason was studying him intently. “Is this second chance more that you were hoping for, Riki?”

Riki gave a sad smile. “Definitely.”

“I’m fascinated with your concept of second chances” Iason Mink questioned, “would you tell me more about it?”

Just then, Riki’s radio buzzed. He had to go.

“I’m sorry, I must get going” Riki spoke as he put on his safety glasses, ears protection and gloves. “Please have a good day. The head office is right ahead.” He smiled and waved. 

Later that day, Riki reflected on what he had told the tall man, Iason Mink. He found that he had meant it. He bizarrely wanted to congratulate his past, forgotten, self for the risky and bold move to escape from Amoi and try his chance elsewhere. 

Tomorrow was his day off. He looked forward to it!

Riki had learned workers had free access to any public transportation around town. He, now, spent his whole free days exploring the city of Talia. He had found hiking trails, parks with water fountains, stands that sold warm food. He had even visited museums! He, a slumdog from Ceres, had stepped foot in a museum! 

Riki understood Betty’s words about _really starting to live_ more than ever.

Today, the morning was going to be sunny, but the afternoon would be bringing rain. Therefore, Riki dressed warmly, filled his backpack with snacks and a bottle of water and went for the closest bus stop. There was a park on the edge of the city he had been meaning to see. He spent the whole morning walking through the colorful trees, breathing fresh air and enjoying the cool wind.

Riki was quietly sitting on a park bench as he ate and read a book. He was deeply focused on the plot of his novel when he felt someone sit on the other end of the bench. Lifting his head, he nearly did a double take. Iason Mink was sitting next to him.

“Hi” Riki spoke, surprise clear in his voice.

“Hello to you, Riki. What a surprise to meet you here” the man spoke on an even tone, a soft smile graced his lips. “I hope you don’t mind my interrupting your reading.”

“Not at all” Riki reassured him, putting his book away in his backpack. Then, he found himself tongue-tied. He didn’t really know what to say.

“Would you take a stroll with me?” Iason invited him. “I heard there is a beautiful stream down that trail” the man said so as he extended his hand for Riki to take. It was a very gentleman manner that Riki would have assumed men used for women to help them stand. Not for him.

Uncomfortable, Riki proceeded to gather his snacks back inside is backpack, then stood, pretending he hadn’t seen the offered hand. His cheeks felt hot.

Looking ahead, Riki walked next to Iason. Then, he finally found something to say “There are so many parks across the city. I’ve been trying to visit them all. I started with those close to the factory, but now I’m expanding further. This one is the nicest so far.”

“Is it?” Iason inquired, “I barely started exploring the city myself. However, I am hoping to unravel its charms” he said so while looking at Riki. “I heard the museums are remarkably impressive. Have you visited any?”

“I did” Riki replied, enthused, “I went to the aviation museum, the brewery one about wines and whiskeys. I also went to the Vista Gallery with the marble statues. I really loved that one. I look forward to the reopening of the Natural Science Museum, it has been closed for a few months apparently. I heard they have genuine dinosaur bones! They said it should reopen around Christmas time.”

“I am so glad I met you, Riki” Iason spoke, wonderment in his voice. “You speak of second chances to a man who feels unworthy of one. Then, you enjoy strolls in beautiful parks, books _and_ museums. I must say I am hoping you and I could be friends so we could share those interests.”

Riki was at loss for words. The man spoke so eloquently. More so he suggested such things.

“…I wouldn’t mind…though I understand you are very busy.”

“I assure you, Riki, I am more than willing to make time for museums and walks in nature with a friend. Everyone I know here are business acquaintances. I find myself very lonely. In fact, what did you have in mind for the afternoon?”

“Well, they said it would rain. I was thinking of going to the art exposition Gallery near the port. I was told there are amazing paintings from painters that have changed art across the galaxy.”

“The Horstentaw Art Museum?”

“Yes! That one exactly” Riki confirmed.

Iason was looking at him very pensively as they walked down a lane next to a stream. 

Riki noticed and could not help but ask “…what is it?”

Still contemplative, Iason voiced his thoughts “I’m just wondering if this is part of your second chance, or were you always interested in art and museums?”

Riki was thoughtful. “I don’t know…I never stepped foot in a museum before I got here. I never had any opportunity to do so in the past. It certainly was not offered or accessible as it is here. But, I like learning new things and I find art fascinating. I guess the interest was there all along, I just never had a chance to develop that side of myself. Here, you can learn anything you want. It is all available to anyone who wishes to attend. I’d be a fool not to enjoy it. I even heard some schools offer free lectures once a week. The topics change and anyone who wishes to learn is welcome.”

They arrived in a parking lot where several cars were parked. While Riki commuted by bus, several people used their cars to travel across town.

Iason opened the passenger door of a grey car, and gestured for Riki to climb in. “Shall we?” he said.

Riki had not been expecting that. “To the Horstentaw Art Museum?” 

“But of course, I have been looking forward to visit it myself. I can think of no better company for such a treat.”

Riki was astonished. It constantly seemed like Iason was flirting with him. Yet, Riki couldn’t bring himself to believe it. Why him?

Still, he climbed inside the nice car and let himself be driven to a museum by Iason.

The paintings were absolutely amazing. The details, the colors! Granted some were downright strange. But those of nature bursting with beauty and light completely awed him. He even had favorites. He was sitting on a bench in the museum observing a painting of a lake surrounded by flowers. He had a leaflet on his lap that summarized the biography of the painter. 

“It says the painter was deaf. Looking at his painting, I can actually imagine the silence of the scene.”

“It does seem a very quiet view” the man agreed “Are you ready to visit the east wing?”

“Sure!” Riki said enthousiastically as he stood. Then, Iason grabbed his hand, and led the way through the crowd. Riki’s heart skipped a beat. He was glad Iason was staring ahead for he knew he was blushing. What was it with this man?

Late in the evening, they made their way to Iason’s car. Riki was looking for a bus stop when Iason spoke. 

“Do you know what would end this day wonderfully?”

Riki hesitated “I think it was quite a successful day as far as days go. But do tell me.”

“You sharing a meal with me. Afterwards I will drive you to your home, you have my word.” He said so while putting a hand on his chest. Where his heart was.

Riki was unsettled. Damn this man! “…what did you have in mind?”

“There is place two blocks from here that serves outstanding sea food. I’ve been meaning to try it. Would you come with me? We could even go by foot.”

Riki was quite hungry. And he did enjoy the man’s company “Yeah, sure. Let’s go”

The food was amazing. Simple as that. The best food Riki had ever eaten possibly. Luckily, it was not an overly fancy place. Respectable without being completely out of reach. Prices were high, but not scary high. Even for a factory worker. At the end of the evening, Iason meant to pay for them both, but Riki refused and insisted he paid for himself. However, Iason counteracted by claiming he had been the one to invite Riki in the first place.

Walking back to the car, Iason gently took Riki’s hand again. The dark hid his blush this time.

Iason stopped his car near the factory workers residences. “I would very much like to explore natural parks and museums with you in the near future. When could we meet again?”

“Well, I don’t work on Fridays…so I usually take the day to learn more about the city. We could meet then?”

“That would certainly be nice. I’ve been told the Alakian Park is absolutely breathtaking. I could pick you up here at 10 next Friday and we could go?”

“That would be great”

“See you then, Riki” 

“See you, Iason.”

The few days that followed were a mixture of work, lunches with Nials and Betty, novels and research.

Since Riki had found no lead regarding his past, he started looking into the night he was auctioned. He consulted the library’s newspapers from a month back and worked his way towards today.

None of the documents he read seemed relevant. Until the newspaper from two days ago.

The front page had a picture of a large balding man that Riki instantly recognized. Fat man!

The title read _Adamon Gal charged for human trafficking!_

Reading the article, Riki understood the man was an advocate for human rights and strongly opposed to pet laws of Amoi. He had been a thorn in the side of Tanagura for the past twenty years and was currently under investigation for purchasing…him! At least Riki’s name was not mentioned anywhere.

The article vaguely mentioned Amoian authorities were in the process of dissolving an illegal pet smuggling ring and in the course of the investigation, they had found pretty damning evidence Adamon Gal was amongst the buyers.

Riki tried as much as he could to cling to his theory that his past self had hijacked a pet’s place for free transportation. However, several things didn’t add up…

First of all, his body hair still hadn’t grown back. Shit, his face, armpits and butt crack were as smooth as a baby’s skin still! Surely if he had meant to pass for a pet, he wouldn’t have chosen a _permanent_ hair removal method! Besides those were pricy!

Pricier even were scar removal procedures. Riki had had quite a lot of scars. He had none left on his entire body! If he had the cash to remove them, why not just pay for a damn ticket?   
Surely, smugglers wouldn’t invest a fortune on a stolen pet!

Then there were Adamon’s words… _No wonder he kept you for so long_

Had Riki been, in fact, kept by someone?

What if his hijacking theory was completely false? But, the very thought of himself being someone’s pet made him scoff. Not with the previous disdain he had, no. He had to much respect for Betty for contempt. However, the idea that someone would, even for one minute, think he’d make a good pet was laughable. Completely insane! No one in their right mind would want to invest time and energy in taming a slumdog into obedience. Not on Amoi. 

Still, the scar removal. The pet smuggling ring he had been a part of. 

His words… _No wonder he kept you for so long…_

Even Betty believed him to be a pet. And she had been one herself!

He tried finding more information about the Amoian authorities that were investigating the smuggling ring, but he found nothing. 

After that, Riki took a research break. The unanswered questions haunted him. Taunted him. Exhausted him. He read novels instead and worked out. He found himself looking forward to Friday, which was fast approaching.

Comfortably seated in Iason’s car, they were listening to music while driving to Alakian Park. The weather was sunny, but very cold. As winter got closer, sunny days meant colder weather. Riki was dressed warmly in the clothes Betty had kindly given him. He was secretly proud of how nice they looked on him. Pride in one’s physical appearance, in the slums, was not encouraged. Good looks got you raped…or killed. Or both.

Here, though, Riki felt free to allow himself this small concession. 

“So how was your week, Riki?” Iason asked conversationally.

Riki thought of what to answer. The truth was work had been awesome, but the research part had brought him down a bit and the nightmares had been back. 

He dreamt of captivity. The nightmares fed on his doubts that perhaps he had not taken a pet’s place to Nemarran, but had actually been abducted too. 

“The work was awesome, I started working with a team to assemble a new machine that is…gigantic! It’s ten times the size of the others. It is a completely new design with new programming and functions. We’re expecting six others alike in the next year. I really love it. It’ll be our big project for the months to come.” Riki explained enthousiastically “What about you?”

“Well, my new work is interesting also. Although not quite as manual. I confess manual work would sometimes be welcome. There is a lot to do and I do love challenges. I have had a breakthrough a few days ago by solving a mystery which I am happy of. How do you occupy your time outside of work?”

“Mmm let’s see…there are gyms in some of the residences, and I have access to them. There is this guy, he’s from Urga 12, he fights like a beast, he uses all kinds of martial arts blended together! I asked him to train me. He’s a rough teacher but I learn a lot. I have a steep hill to climb, though. I’m covered in bruises” Riki laughed “then I do like to read. I don’t really care what kind of books. Just nothing too depressing, I guess. I research a bit too, I’m…trying to catch up on some things. Then, there’s the city exploration, the parks and museums, as you know. And you, what do you do with your spare time?”

“Nothing as adventurous as you I’m afraid. I looked forward to our city exploration all week. I do manage business from my previous occupation, still. And, I had matters to settle with an old associate. Other than that, my life is rather quiet these days.”

Riki thought the man sounded lonely. Bored too, perhaps.

Iason parked the car, and they took off in a narrow lane surrounded with trees. The fresh air smelled amazing! Like pines and coldness blended together. Riki had never smelled anything so wonderful. He had his nose up in the air and was sniffing appreciatively. 

“Do you like it here, Iason?” he decided to ask.

Iason was looking at him. “Very much so, Riki.”

“Yeah, new beginnings are rough though, I get that.” Riki provided.

“And what of you Riki, do you like it here?” Iason replied back.

“I love it here.” Riki said with determination “This is, hands down, the best place I’ve ever been to. I hope I get to stay here for the rest of my life.” He said so with a certainty he felt. Amoi was a rotten piece of shit compared to this place for sure.

Iason did not look surprised. “Do you intend to apply for citizenship then?” 

Riki was taken aback. Citizenship? Was that even an option? Back on Amoi, slumdogs were outcasts and were denied any ID chips that would allow them employment. It was the giant curse of being an outlaw for the small blessing of not being controlled by the IA. The eternal conflict.

“I didn’t know I could apply. What does it imply?”

“After 6 months of employment, anyone can apply. There is a minor fee of a few hundred credits for administrative costs. If offers a security. As a citizen, you are protected by the laws of the planet and its countries. It allows you to purchase land, or a home. You can apply to any school you wish. You can get married. You are also protected, should you plan for interplanetary travels.”

“That’s…amazing…I’ll definitely look into it.” Riki answered, thoughtfully.

Then, his mind went to another question he had. “You seem very interested by second chances. You asked me about it a few times. Why is that?”

Iason did not hesitate as he spoke “Because I very much like the idea of a fresh start. This planet seems to be a good place for that.”

“I think it is.”

They ate a light lunch on the Akalian Mountain top which offered a breath-taking view of a river. They even saw a few deers. Riki was amazed by their beauty.

As they made their way back, Riki was starting to feel a bit tired. He tripped on a root and nearly fell had it not been from Iason catching him. Afterwards, Iason kept attempting to help Riki down the hill despite Riki _insisting he was fine_. 

Iason drove them back towards to city, “We could dine at my house” he suggested “We could order in something simple and relax in front of the fire. What do you say?”

Riki was a bit…daunted at the idea of visiting the man’s most likely lavish home. However, the idea of a fireplace and quiet time with Iason sounded very good, so he agreed. _Why not. ___

__Iason’s house was a dream. There was an entire side of it that was all windows. And they were facing a lake! The home was simple though. Nothing extravagant. Just functional, but very well located. And large! Although Riki had to admit, Iason, being the tallest person he had ever met, probably needed space._ _

__Once inside, Riki restrained himself from looking around too much. He politely dropped his bag at the door and removed his boots and coat. Iason took his hand and led him to a living room with large windows and a fireplace. They were both sitting on chairs, quietly discussing books. Then, they ate a light meal and discussed parks, theater events, music concerts and museums to try out next._ _

__Riki was surprised. He was feeling…comfortable. Part of him had expected to feel uneasy. Somehow, he felt warm and pleasant, making plans with this strange new friend of his._ _

__Riki went to take the bus back home, but Iason had his keys in hand “Nonsense, Riki, this is a fifteen minutes drive for me and I get to spend them with you, knowing you got home safe.”_ _

__Riki was looking for replies, but found none._ _


End file.
